A slow start to the day and Mark decided to head to the airport to check on his bag as there was still no word from Cayman Airways. He gets there and they tell him they have no bags from Miami so thank goodness for the AirTag so he can show them it is at the airport. He then watches two Caymanian’s go back and come out with their bags but when he asks if he can go back to look for his, he is quickly told no one is allowed back there. 30 minutes later and they finally locate his bag.
Once he is showered we head to Camana Bay to catch up with our friend Laura and her three boys, Liam, Adam and Nicholas. The kids didn’t get on so well this time but I enjoyed catching up with Laura. She filled us in on local happenings during the last few years and answered the kids burning question about where all the iguanas were. When we lived there you would see iguanas all the time and we had told the kids this but since being back we hadn’t seen one. Turns out the government had implemented a culling project a few years ago and paid people $5 for every green iguana they killed. As a result you rarely see them now.
After lunch we headed to Captain Marvin’s office to catch a bus for our boat ride. The first stop was at Coral Gardens for some snorkeling. I gave it a miss as it was fairly rough for Cayman but Mark and kids enjoyed it and much to my surprise said they actually saw quite a few fish and got to touch a stingray.
Next stop was Stingray City where you can touch, hold and feed the stingrays on the sandbar. Last time we had been out (and as is more often than not the case) the water is like glass, but not so today which made it nowhere near as pleasant or easy to view. We were told not to jump around but it was pretty hard as the waves kept dragging you so the kids (especially TJ and Greer) were pretty nervous. They had a photographer taking photos and gave us squid to feed them. They have a real suction feeling when they take the food and their underbellies are very soft and smooth. In the end it got a bit much for TJ so he went back to the boat and missed the photos but the rest of us got our photos holding, kissing and having a “back massage” from the stingray.
The next stop was Starfish Point. The water was quite murky and very shallow but we got in anyway. There didn’t seem to be a load of starfish but Greer in particular loved it. I waded around with Sophia and TJ looking for more until I felt a sharp sting in my leg and headed back to the boat. I asked the guides about jellyfish and they said there were some so gave me some cream for it.
We headed back to the dock and back home again for a shower before heading to another old haunt, Sunset House. We met up with one of Mark’s old junior lawyers from DC, Mike Beck and his wife Elise for a few drinks (had to have the obligatory Cayman mudslide) and dinner. Then we viewed the Christmas lights across the road before heading home for the night.
